Right Place at the Wrong Time
by Ammadeau
Summary: Mysterious murders are occuring in Crystal Tokyo, but Usagi, once known as Chibi-Usa, is more concerned with a infamous burglar name Ranma Saotome.


In the Right Place at the Wrong Time  
(A Sailor Moon / Ranma One Half Crossover)  
By Ammadeau  
Roy.Fokker@UNSpacy.org  
http://www.thekeep.org/~amm/  
  
Thanks to Angus McSpon, Larry F, David Smith, and anyone I've   
forgotten for giving C&C on this.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
***  
  
*The third one in three weeks,* was all that Lady Jupiter   
could think of, looking down at the corpse. It had been so horribly   
mutilated that the victim could only be identified by his DNA;   
fingerprints hadn't been kept for a long time, and the skull had been   
sunken in on itself to make dental records useless.  
Lady Jupiter was indifferent to the body that lay at her feet,   
though at the same time regretting the lack of disgust and sadness   
she should have felt. She was beginning to wish she hadn't   
accepted the position of chief constable of Crystal Tokyo. At least   
murders were so rare that she usually handled such cases   
personally, especially an odd case like this.  
"Are these burns? They look... odd somehow," she asked   
the man who was currently doing a preliminary check before the   
body was moved. She pointed out the black marks on what was   
left of the victim's chest; nearly half the ribcage looked like it had   
been removed with a hacksaw, yet it was also partially melted   
where the bones had been cut. Oddly enough, little blood stained   
the carpet. To Jupiter, it seemed strangely similar to when she had   
accidentally hit a store mannequin with her supreme thunder. She   
could still remember her relief discovering that it wasn't a real   
person after all.  
The forensics man had been trained by Lady Mercury.   
Since there was little call for people of his profession within   
Crystal Tokyo, she had taken up teaching it herself, even though   
Jupiter knew it was something that was distasteful to the   
medically-inclined senshi. Which meant she had to be really   
curious about this case to volunteer to conduct this autopsy.   
Jupiter hoped that this body would yield more clues than the last   
two had.  
"Acid burns," the man agreed with a small nod. "Most   
curious. Burns such as this should have left some residue from the   
agent used, or a faint odor, yet there is nothing. Curious.  
"The wounds have also been cauterized, which explains   
some of the lack of blood, but not all. I suspect, though I can't be   
entirely certain, that the murderer did some cleaning up afterwards,   
but left the body untouched. Yet even that should have left some   
signs on the rug."  
"The body could have been moved here after the murder,"   
Jupiter pointed out.  
"A possibility," the man agreed. "But the door lock was   
keyed to the victim's DNA pattern and a teleport would have left a   
definite residual energy signature, not to mention an energy spike   
that would have been detected by our own electronic wizards."  
Jupiter nodded as she absently stood, catching herself   
briefly in a mirror across the room. She only looked a little older   
than when she had first become a senshi, wearing a school-girl   
uniform out of a man's fantasy, but nearly everyone in Crystal   
Tokyo immediately deferred to her.  
She no longer felt like a high school girl, though. Over a   
thousand years old and feeling the weight of every year, even in the   
times of relative prosperity, though those never seemed to last very   
long. Always something would spring up that would require her   
senshi abilities. Beryl, Nephrenia, Nemesis, a hundred others like   
them, and now this. Though this was odder than most. Because of   
the post she had accepted during the founding of Crystal Tokyo,   
she was more active than most. *Is this really the answer to my   
true dream?*  
Jupiter glanced around the room, centuries of training   
taking everything in at a glance. It was like one of those murder   
mysteries she had read as a child. Everything was still locked up   
tight, no sign of an entry, forced or otherwise. Even checking for   
the tell-tale signs of a teleport had come up negative. The victim   
was a normal citizen, worked as a bank teller, possible personal   
revenge motive but that wouldn't explain the prior victims, which   
he had no link to. No sign of anything missing, though it wasn't   
entirely easy to tell. If the thief knew what he was looking for it   
wouldn't have been difficult to cover his tracks. The victim had   
lived alone so there was no one who could tell if something was   
missing or not. But why go to such lengths for just a simple   
robbery?  
As it was, it just didn't make sense. Jupiter felt that there   
was something just beyond her reach, something that would   
unravel the entire mystery for her, but she just couldn't put her   
finger on it. She hoped that a chat with Mercury would clear her   
head enough so she could reach it, whatever it was.  
"With your permission, Lady Jupiter," the forensics man   
told her, indicating the men ready to package up the body; what   
they could find of it at least. A number of organs and bones were   
missing, including the entire right forearm. It seemed random   
though, since the mutilations didn't match the other victims. Just   
another thing that needed looking into.  
Jupiter nodded. "Yes, take it away. I'll look forward to your   
report in the morning."  
The man bowed slightly to her before starting on his task.   
"Of course, Lady Jupiter."  
  
In the dead of night, Ranma went to work. About this time,   
a small voice always pointed out how he was doing just the sort of   
thing he always hated his father for. He ignored it. He had a job to   
do.  
He was a bit nervous about burgling the Palace, but then   
chided himself for being foolish. It was just a big house, with   
defenses that were just a bit better than average. Nothing on his   
skills, though. It wasn't enough to keep the now infamous cat   
burglar Ranma Saotome out.  
There was a certain person who might not approve of his   
current job, but it was her fault that he was stuck here in the first   
place. He also more than suspected she was the reason he was in   
this line of work. She was a mystery still after knowing her for a   
year now, but she clearly had strong ties to the rulers of Crystal   
Tokyo. And he doubted she'd be thrilled that he was about to rob   
them.  
Ranma slipped down marbled halls, careful not to make a   
sound, as he went over the route he had mapped out in his mind.   
He knew just where he wanted to go, having already been there   
with a tour group. Some recent hardships had taken off the shine   
of his ego, but he was still confident that he could do what he had   
been paid to do.  
The job had seemed ridiculous at first, trickling down from   
web of contacts he had established. A certain unnamed but   
wealthy individual was apparently a devotee of the Serenity Cult,   
so much so that he was willing to pay a great deal of money in   
order to obtain a certain item of hers from the Palace. It was a job   
no one else would risk, so naturally it fell into Ranma's hands.   
Who else would be willing to breach the sanctum of the world's   
most beloved and powerful ruler?  
  
Usagi, once known as Chibi-Usa, and still sometimes   
referred to as Small Lady, though no longer quite so small as she   
once had been, finally gave up on tossing and turning and sat up in   
bed. Worry, worry, worry. Unlike her mother, anxiety seemed to   
nag at her, not willing to let her sleep in peace. Something   
inherited from her father, she supposed.  
Helios was gone for a week, on some errand whose purpose   
she didn't fully understand, though her father seemed to. In the   
meantime, her mother had been pressuring her into pursuing a   
more formal relationship with her long-time boyfriend, which   
made her feel really awkward. She and Helios were going through   
things slowly, by their choice. Just because her mom had started   
on dad early, didn't mean she had to.  
Usagi thought that a late-night snack might help settle her   
mind. That always seemed to do the trick when she was younger.   
Appetite was definitely something she had gotten from her mother,   
but in her late teens, she tended to be a bit more concerned about   
her figure these days, and sweets, while tasty, were not good for it.   
This was an emergency, however.  
She wandered through the dimly lit halls of the Palace,   
carrying a small lamp before her, illuminating everything a few   
meters around her in a soft yellow glow. She was wearing the   
pajamas Aunt Michiru had hand-sewn for her birthday a few years   
ago. Usagi was glad she had made them big so they still fit her,   
because they were so comfortable to sleep in. At least when she   
could get to sleep.  
Usagi let out a small yawn as she finally reached the   
kitchen. She was tired, but not yet sleepy. She hoped a quick   
snack would take care of that. Usagi carried a small plate of   
brownies and some milk back to her room. The kitchen was too   
large and dark to eat in at night, its cavernous ceiling stretching up   
until it was lost in the dim glow. It gave her the creeps. Then she   
shook her head, ashamed to be afraid of the dark like a little girl.  
That was when Usagi heard the sound: a faint click, similar   
to what she heard when closing her window. No one but the   
guards should be wandering the Palace at night, but Usagi felt a   
small shiver of fear. She knew that something bad had happened   
recently, but her aunts and mother wouldn't tell her what it was.   
She was Sailor Moon, defender of the city, but they still treated her   
as if she were a child.  
*That's right, I am Sailor Moon,* Usagi thought to herself   
firmly, *I have to investigate this.*  
  
Ranma felt very silly hefting the pink staff in one hand,   
which was capped with a big heart, as he slowly lowered down the   
glass case again. He hadn't been working like this for all that long,   
but in that time he had stolen a lot of things, and this had to be the   
most embarrassing one ever. He didn't know why any guy would   
want it. Ranma wouldn't even want to be seen in public with it,   
even if he hadn't stolen it.  
"Hold it right there!" a young woman shouted as he turned   
to make for the exit. As he studied her carefully, not letting his   
surprise show, he decided that the pajamas that she was wearing,   
pink with little white bunny designs, were another thing he didn't   
want to be seen in public with. Though even he had to admit that   
they went well with the girl's pink hair, done up in a double-pony-  
tail style like the Queen's.  
"Just where do you think you're going with that!?" Usagi   
yelled at the boy when he didn't reply.  
"Um, out the door?" Ranma ventured, happy that he had   
used some sleeping powder on the guards who normally patrolled   
this part of the Palace. The girl's shouting would have certainly   
alerted them otherwise.  
"I don't think so!" Usagi shouted and posed. "You're a   
thief, and I, champion of love and justice, will punish you!"  
Ranma smirked. This girl thought that she could punish   
him? "And who are you supposed to be?"  
Usagi blinked. "I'm Sailor Moon."  
Ranma snickered. "I haven't been here for a while or   
anything, but I'm pretty sure that Sailor Moon doesn't defend love   
and justice in her pjs."  
Usagi looked down at herself and nearly jumped in   
surprise. She'd been so eager to catch the crook in the act that she   
had completely forgotten to transform, or that she didn't even have   
her brooch with her to transform with even if she had thought of it.  
When she looked up, she noticed that the boy was nowhere   
to be seen. With a yell of anger, she ran out of the only other exit   
to the room, chasing after him.  
Ranma reflected that his current pursuer not only knew the   
Palace well, but was also in pretty good shape. He wasn't running   
full out, but he still couldn't have been easy to keep up with. She   
was holding her own, though she was starting to look winded. He   
guessed that she was one of the Palace servants, probably a maid to   
the Queen or something. Must have to run around the Palace all   
the time doing errands which kept her in shape, but what she was   
doing up and about at this time of night he had no idea. Noticing   
the plate the girl carried, he supposed that if the Queen wanted   
milk and brownies in the middle of the night, no one argued with   
her.  
He could have lost his pink pursuer, leaving the Palace   
entirely, but there was something pleasingly familiar about being   
chased around by an angry girl. It was too much fun to let the   
game end so soon.  
"You'll never catch me with those thick legs, you uncute   
tomboy!" Ranma shouted over his shoulder and was rewarded by a   
sudden flush of anger in his pursuer.  
"What did you just call me?!" Usagi shouted in rage,   
picking up her speed, and closing the distance between her and this   
rude boy. She couldn't believe that there was someone this   
underhanded and vulgar. He was like the very opposite of Helios.  
"You're built like a brick, you're legs are too thick, and the   
sight of you makes me sick!" Ranma taunted, sticking out his   
tongue for good measure.  
Usagi howled incoherently in rage and flung the nearest   
thing at hand, which was her brownies and milk. Ranma ducked   
the thrown sweets all with a smile, taunting her with 'missed me,   
missed me' the entire time, which only made Usagi angrier.   
Unfortunately for Ranma, he was paying more attention to the girl   
than where he was putting his feet and stepped right on a brownie,   
causing him to slip. That was when Usagi's lamp hit him square in   
the face. Down Ranma went.  
Usagi cheered and quickly closed the distance between   
herself and her fallen prey. She attempted to apprehend him and   
was surprised to find herself on the ground a moment later, the   
stolen staff now laying across her lap. She looked up to see Ranma   
grinning a few feet away from her, eyes shining from the light of   
the lamp which lay at his feet.  
"You can keep that staff thing," Ranma told her. "I don't   
want it any more. It suits you better anyway. Well, see ya."  
With a quick wave, Ranma moved to run away, but Usagi   
suddenly shouted, "Wait!"  
Ranma slowly turned around, eyeing her cautiously.  
Usagi tried to get up, but her legs had strangely gone numb.   
She stared in frustration at the boy who had just taunted her   
moments ago. "At least tell me your name!"  
"Oh, it's Ranma, Ranma Saotome," he told her and then   
left.  
*Ranma,* Usagi thought as she felt sleep finally   
overwhelm her. *I'll find you and get you for this.*  
  
Serenity was not an early riser. She never had been and,   
being Queen, probably never would be. After all, the ruler of the   
country was the one who decided when the business of the day   
could start. Still, there were some things that couldn't wait for her   
royal majesty to get out of bed, or rather until her First Advisor   
could finally push her out of it; not an easy feat for a cat. These   
duties, as well as much of the day-to-day affairs, fell to her consort,   
King Endymion, who a few people still called Mamoru. And to   
one very special person who was currently snoozing, Mamo-chan.  
Endymion was an early riser by nature, and found himself   
being quite restless lying in bed wide awake with the still   
slumbering, often snoring Queen. He could only admire her still   
beauty for a short while before her snoring, or Luna's yelling, really   
got on his nerves.  
Sometimes tasks awaited him, but on this particular   
morning, there was nothing to be done until Serenity finally woke   
up. Since Serenity always wanted to have breakfast with her   
husband, and he lacked the will to refuse her anything, he couldn't   
even eat until she rose, though occasionally he made himself a   
snack to tide himself over.  
When there was nothing to be done, he liked to take a walk   
around the Palace. Not only was it better exercise than sitting on   
his throne or in his office all day, but it did much to his peace of   
mind to find everything in order, from the long hallways free of   
dust, to the rose beds which he worked on as his hobby. He   
thought it ironic that this time of peace only lasted until Serenity   
awoke, because after that he was normally knee deep in work until   
he could finally go to sleep again.  
It was during his walk that he ran into one of the guards   
that watched over the Palace day and night. Something that both   
he and the rest of the senshi had been insistent on even though it   
had been a long time since anyone was bold enough to attack the   
Palace directly.  
The guard seemed agitated as he bowed shortly and said,   
"Sire, I have just discovered something that you should see   
immediately."  
One raised eyebrow was the only sign of Endymion's   
surprise as he nodded and replied, "Lead the way."  
The guard lead him to part of the Palace which was   
frequently open to the public, though it looked much like any other   
hallway. That was except for the squished brownies and spilled   
milk that littered the floor, along with a broken plate and a tipped   
over lamp. Had two guards held a food fight last night to stave off   
their boredom? Endymion wouldn't have minded as much if they   
had just cleaned up their mess afterwards.  
"Why haven't you called a maid to take care of this?" he   
asked.  
The guard looked uncomfortable again, and Endymion   
finally realized why. The normal captain was out sick and this man   
had to take his responsibility on himself, and being new to that   
responsibility, feared making a mistake. That Endymion could   
understand; he still felt sometimes that he was playing king more   
than being one, but it was still too strong a reaction for such a   
small matter.  
"It was a maid who discovered all this. She wanted my   
permission to clean it up just in case it was something important   
somehow. I decided to let it be until I showed it to you or Lady   
Jupiter when I discovered this."  
And with that the man pulled back the heavy drapery that   
lined the walls to reveal Endymion's daughter Usagi fast asleep on   
the floor, clutching a staff that her mother had once used as Sailor   
Moon. He knew it belonged in a display room not far from there.   
Since it had lost its power some time ago, it was no more than a   
pretty trinket, and as such was something they could show to the   
public.  
Careful not to rouse her, Endymion gently picked up his   
daughter in one arm, carrying the staff in the other. "Why was it   
that a maid noticed this and not a guard?"  
The guard took a step back from the edge of anger in his   
voice. "Actually, I was just about to patrol this hall when the maid   
contacted me. Even then, she couldn't have been here for very   
long. I spoke to the guard who had been on duty for this section of   
the Palace before me and he swore he didn't notice any of this."  
Endymion thought about it. In the still darkness of the   
early morning, combined with how peaceful everything had been   
lately, he didn't find it too hard to imagine a guard passing by all   
this without really noticing.  
"I want a full report on this incident in my office   
immediately," he told the guard. "You are dismissed."  
The guard bowed curtly and practically sprinted on his way.   
Endymion smiled a bit, sure that he could expect a prompt report   
from that man.  
He was frowning though as he gently put his daughter back   
in her bed. He would have to question her about this later. With   
Helios gone, he had to wonder just who Usagi was having a late   
night food fight with.  
  
Endymion wasn't the only person up early or frowning that   
morning. Makoto grimaced as she studied the early forensic report   
on her desk. So far, nothing that wasn't already known had turned   
up. Just a lot of mysterious damage to the body and no solid   
evidence of how the damage had been caused. They were   
definitely acid burns, though there wasn't even a trace of the   
compound which had caused them. Going over the previous two   
cases, she noted that there were similar damage in both of those   
victims, but it was much less prominent.  
And the only scraps of DNA on the scene that didn't match   
the victim were much too old to have been the killer. Makoto   
frowned at her coffee. Three deaths already, three weeks, and she   
still had no leads.  
"I know, it isn't good."  
Makoto looked up from her report to see Ami walk into her   
office, already wearing a lab coat. Neither of them bothered with   
transforming while still in the Palace, though they were expected to   
for official functions. Even as they were now, they were still   
known to most as only Lady Jupiter and Lady Mercury. Neither   
were entirely happy with that, the awe with which the 'normal'   
people looked up to the immortal senshi. Even their closest   
subordinates that they'd been working with for years still treated   
them akin to minor deities.  
"I hope today's autopsy will change that, Ami," Makoto told   
her, offering her a chair.  
Ami took the chair with a smile. "I hope so too. I'm going   
to try every procedure I can think of, and probably make up a few   
along the way. And if that doesn't work, I'll try them all over   
again."  
"And if that doesn't work?" Makoto asked her with a small   
smile.  
"I don't know. Maybe ask Serenity. She can be very wise   
at the strangest times. She's been unusually quiet on this whole   
thing, hasn't she?"  
Makoto nodded. "Yeah, but I hear that there are some   
political problems right now. Not my forte, of course, but I gather   
things are rather delicate outside Crystal Tokyo at the moment.   
She just told me to handle this however I see fit. That, and to keep   
the princess out of it."  
Ami nodded herself. "I'm afraid I've been too busy with my   
work to pay much attention to politics, so I wouldn't know about   
that, but I agree with keeping Usagi out of this. We've faced things   
a lot stranger than this as senshi before, but I don't know, this feels   
different somehow. Maybe because it is so mundane in a way, but   
it scares me a bit. I can't shake the feeling that this is about more   
than three mysterious deaths."  
Makoto took a final sip of her coffee. "Why don't we get   
this over with? The sooner I can erase that image from my mind,   
the sooner I'll be able to eat."  
Ami stood. "Let's go."  
  
A girl officially known as 'Ranko Tendo' was busily having   
breakfast and answering her mail on a laptop at an open-air cafe,   
far enough away from the city center that only the tallest spires of   
the Palace could be seen. When she had been first given the   
laptop, it took her forever just to type a single sentence. But being   
bored and frustrated at her inability to not do anything, Ranko had   
treated typing like a kata and now had a typing speed equal to that   
of the better OLs.  
She was grinning as she wolfed down her breakfast with   
one hand and answered her mail with the other. Somehow, it was   
fun to tarnish the reputation of the infamous cat burglar Ranma   
Saotome by refusing this latest job, saying it couldn't be done. She   
refunded the partial payment to her client, minus expenses, with a   
small note of apology, saying that the Palace defenses were simply   
too good.  
Ranko found it even more amusing that the great Ranma   
had been foiled by a pink-haired maid, not that anyone was likely   
to believe that. She thought there was a certain freedom just to be   
able to fail and not have to worry about the consequences. Failure   
had never been an option to her before, whether it was due to the   
situation or her father breathing down her neck.  
She never noticed the exact moment when the green-haired   
woman took the seat opposite her. Instincts honed from nearly a   
lifetime of practice should have sensed anyone who had   
approached, but she had never been able to catch this particular   
person off-guard. She was starting to think that she couldn't be   
caught off-guard.  
"Good morning, Setsuna," Ranko told her, finally looking   
up at the woman who sat opposite, who was dressed in a light   
purple business suit as if she were just another office lady. Ranko   
doubted that this woman ever did that sort of work, not that she   
was entirely sure of anything about her.  
"Good morning, Ranko," Setsuna returned the greeting with   
a smile. "Finishing up your latest job? How did it go?"  
*As if you didn't know already,* Ranko thought. Setsuna   
had no difficulty in finding Ranko wherever she happened to be   
and seemed to know everything she had ever done. The only thing   
she couldn't do was send Ranko home, or so she claimed.  
Setsuna always appeared either to help her out of a jam   
when she needed it, to give her tips to prevent her from getting in a   
jam in the first place, when she needed Ranko to perform some   
strange task for her benefit, or simply to check up on her. Ranko   
couldn't help wondering what it would be this time.  
"The job was going fine until some pink-haired fan of   
Sailor Moon decided to stop me, all for love and justice," Ranko   
told her with a smirk. "Must have been a maid or something."  
She was surprised to see the wide smile that suddenly   
appeared on Setsuna's face, and the accompanying twinkle in her   
eye. "Oh? And just what did this 'maid' look like?"  
Ranko frowned slightly in thought. Why was that   
important? Setsuna did ask the oddest questions sometimes.  
"Well, she was a little shorter than me, and maybe a little   
younger, with pink hair done up in twin ponytails like the Queen.   
She was wearing these silly pink pajamas with white bunnies all   
over 'em. She got so mad over me stealing that stupid staff that I   
just didn't have the heart to go through with it."  
Setsuna nodded, the smile still on her face. If anything, it   
was even wider than before. Ranko was starting to feel a bit   
creeped out by it. "That wasn't a maid, Ranko," Setsuna told her,   
pausing for effect. "That was Princess Usagi."  
Ranko blinked in surprise several times. "That was the   
princess that I...?"  
"That you what, Ranko?"  
Ranko looked nervously at the smiling face of the woman   
who sat across from her. "Nothing, nothing. I just got to get out of   
Crystal Tokyo now, that's all. I knew I should have paid more   
attention to stuff like that before coming back here."  
"You can't leave Crystal Tokyo right now," Setsuna said   
firmly, most of the humor gone from her voice.  
This stopped Ranko immediately. "Why not?" she asked   
slowly, not sure if she'd get a straight answer or not. Setsuna   
seemed to get some sort of thrill at being mysterious all the time,   
but Ranko had learned the hard way that it was a bad idea to ignore   
her advice.  
"Your presence is needed here for the time being. It would   
be bad if you were to leave, for you and others."  
"You're not going to tell me why, are you?"  
Setsuna shook her head. "Much as I'd like to, I can't. It   
would have too much of an effect on events yet to occur. You have   
nothing to worry about anyway. No one would recognize you as   
you are now. Besides, whatever happened between you and the   
princess couldn't have been that bad, could it?"  
"I sort of insulted her," Ranko muttered.  
"What was that?"  
"I called her names to make her mad," she said a bit louder,   
though she was staring down at the half-eaten meal before her, not   
wanting to make eye contact.  
"That doesn't sound so bad," Setsuna mused. "What did   
you call her?"  
"You know, normal kind of stuff you'd say to a girl to get   
her mad."  
"I don't know. I've never had any reason to do so. Give me   
an example."  
"I sort of called her an uncute tomboy and that the sight of   
her made me sick. Then I sort of knocked her down, using a   
pressure point to numb her legs so she couldn't chase after me."  
Ranko's head snapped up at the sound of laughter, but by   
then Setsuna was only smiling. Ranko had never heard the woman   
laugh before, though she smiled frequently. She wasn't sure if she   
had really heard it now.  
"I have to go now," Setsuna said, standing up suddenly.   
"Until next we meet, take care of yourself, Ranma."  
"Yeah, you too," Ranko replied a bit uneasily. "Are you   
going to tell me when I can leave Crystal Tokyo?"  
"I'll let you know," Setsuna replied as she began to walk   
away. "Though I have a feeling you won't need me to."  
  
Usagi was in the middle of a very odd dream. It was so odd   
that she could tell it was a dream almost immediately, though that   
realization didn't seem to help her any. She was running though   
the darkened halls of the Palace with Ranma far in front of her. No   
matter how hard she ran, she never seemed able to shorten the   
distance between them. Then suddenly he was right in front of her,   
with the same mocking smile as before, bonked her in the nose   
twice, and sped off again. She'd blink in surprise and chase after   
him.  
Usagi wasn't sure how many times this had happened   
before she finally opened her eyes, to find another set of eyes close   
to her own, though not Ranma's this time.  
"Good morning, Small Lady," Diana told her, tapping her   
on the nose with one of her paws.  
"Good morning, Diana," Usagi replied, yawning and   
holding the moon cat in her arms as she sat up.  
"You've overslept. Breakfast has already started. The King   
said to let you sleep, but I did not think you wanted to miss   
breakfast."  
"Thank you, Diana. I had a strange night, I guess it kept me   
up," Usagi informed her as she put the cat on her shoulders and got   
ready for her bath. Something Luna-P would normally help her   
with, but she had sent it with Helios to keep him company.  
"Oh?" asked the moon cat with interest.  
Usagi frowned slightly, thinking of Ranma again. "I'll tell   
you all about it later."  
  
Makoto and Ami were grateful that there was no one else in   
the dining hall at the moment, everyone having eaten breakfast   
while they were still conducting the autopsy. It was currently   
going on, but they were automatic tests that would take a long time   
to complete. They had turned up nothing particularly useful so far,   
and it didn't look hopeful.  
"Maybe I'm getting numb to all of this," Makoto   
commented as she methodically worked on her breakfast, her mind   
elsewhere.  
"Hmm?" Ami inquired over her cup of tea.  
Makoto took a sip of her miso and explained. "Before, I   
couldn't eat for hours after seeing a dead body, but now even a   
mutilated corpse doesn't seem to affect my appetite."  
"I never had that particular problem," Ami admitted. "I'm   
not sure why. Plenty of people in medical school were practically   
throwing up at the sight of the cadavers, but it never seemed to   
bother me. Maybe it's our experiences as senshi."  
"Maybe," Makoto echoed, sounding a bit uncertain.  
"I think you're worrying too much about this," Ami told her.   
"In other places, murders happen all of the time."  
"Not in Crystal Tokyo. Not at Serenity's feet."  
Ami nodded, a slight smile on her lips. "We still protect   
her from the world, don't we? No matter how old she is, or no   
matter how much she has faced, we still treat her like a child in   
some ways."  
Makoto smiled too, grateful for the change of subject.   
"Luna is the worst of us, though. She's been over-mothering the   
Queen for over a thousand years now, and she doesn't look ready to   
stop any time soon."  
"It might be how little Serenity has changed in all that time.   
She still oversleeps, eats too much, steals Rei's manga. I'm   
beginning to think that the only reason Rei buys manga anymore is   
so the Queen can steal them. I don't think I've ever seen her read   
them herself."  
"But when she's being the Queen..." Makoto said, not   
needing to finish her sentence. They both knew that when it came   
to something important, the sometimes ditzy girl could   
immediately become serious and commanding. "Her power can be   
overwhelming."  
"Love is her power," Ami said slowly. "She inspires it in   
everyone she touches. We love her so much that we're willing to   
march right into hell with a smile for her, and many of her subjects   
would do the same. There are people who are afraid to meet her   
and fall under her spell." Ami grinned, amused by the idea of   
Serenity thought of as some sort of temptress.  
Makoto frowned. "That's not always a good thing."  
Ami nodded, understanding what her fellow senshi had   
meant. People had gone to some extraordinary lengths to possess   
their Queen in the past, of which Diamond was only one example.  
Makoto and Ami were down to exchanging gossip by the   
time that Usagi finally made her way to the dining room. She was   
quite late, but the cooks had no problem in making something up   
quick for the princess and her cat. Serenity's daughter was loved   
by Palace staff nearly as much as the Queen herself.  
"Aunty Makoto! Aunty Ami!" Usagi said gleefully as she   
made her way over to them, tray in her arms and Diana around her   
shoulders. "May I join you?"  
The two senshi smiled to see her. "You are always   
welcome, Princess," Makoto told her.  
Usagi nodded gratefully and took a seat. "So what were   
you talking about?" she asked as she set Diana on the table so they   
could both start on their breakfast together.  
A look passed between Makoto and Ami. The recent   
murders were not to be discussed in front of the princess.  
"Oh, random things," Ami said casually. "Not much   
interesting going on for us senshi not involved in politics."  
"Something interesting must have happened to you,   
princess," Makoto noted in an attempt to steer the subject away   
from her and Ami's activities. "You're usually not so late getting to   
breakfast. What happened? Did Helios sneak into your room last   
night?"  
Usagi blushed. "Helios would never do such a thing! At   
least he's a gentleman, not like..."  
"Not like?" Ami prompted, suddenly interested. She   
noticed that she wasn't the only one. Makoto was staring at the   
princess curiously.  
Usagi's blush disappeared, to be replaced by a frown.   
"Some boy broke into the Palace last night and tried to steal one of   
mom's old staffs. Can you believe that?"  
"What?" Makoto nearly shouted. As chief constable, the   
security of the Palace was her prime duty. No one had told her of   
this. "Did he try to hurt you? What did he look like?"  
"He didn't try to hurt me, but he was very rude and   
annoying. He was about a little taller than me, black hair tied into   
a pigtail. Red shirt, black pants. He said he was Ranma Saotome."  
"Ranma Saotome was here?" Makoto said in surprise. "I'm   
surprise the Palace is still in one piece then."  
"You've heard of him?" Usagi asked, blinking in surprise.  
"Heard of him? I really would be falling down on the job if   
I hadn't. The infamous cat burglar Ranma Saotome. They say that   
there isn't anything he can't steal, no matter how well-guarded."  
"Well, he failed this time," Usagi said proudly. "I stopped   
him from getting away with it."  
"You stopped him? I'd think that even Sailor Moon would   
have trouble with the likes of him."  
Usagi looked embarrassed. "Well, actually, I couldn't stop   
him no matter how hard I tried, but he gave me back the staff for   
some reason anyway. If I'd been transformed into Sailor Moon, I   
would have stopped him for sure though."  
"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Makoto told her. "A lot of   
people have tried to capture him over the past year, but none have   
ever succeeded yet. Him giving back the staff was odd though.   
Maybe it was a diversion so he could steal something else, but   
that's not really his style. I'll make sure nothing of importance is   
missing anyway."  
"You can ask him when I bring him in," Usagi said firmly.  
Everyone, even Diana who had already heard most of this   
story in the bath, looked up at her in surprise.  
"What do you mean by that, princess?" Ami asked.  
"Sailor Moon is going to go out and bring this criminal to   
justice!"  
"I doubt that he's even in the city anymore--" Makoto   
started to say when Ami cut her off.  
"I think that's a great idea, princess. It would be quite a feat   
for Sailor Moon to capture such a famous criminal."  
"Right!" Usagi declared enthusiastically as she finished off   
the remains of her breakfast. "I'll get going on that right away!"  
The two senshi watched as the princess marched off with a   
determined look on her face.  
"Why did you tell her that?" Makoto asked once she was   
gone.  
Ami smiled. "We want her busy so she won't get involved   
with these murders. What better way to send her after an   
uncatchable cat burglar?"  
"I don't know. Like I was going to tell her, I doubt Ranma   
would linger that long here after finishing a job, successful or not."  
Ami shrugged. "So Sailor Moon chases phantoms for a   
while. It might be cruel, but it's better than getting her mixed up in   
these murders."  
That, at least, Makoto could agree with.  
  
Cutting through the park on the way back to her room,   
Usagi was surprised and delighted to run across an old friend.  
"Pu!" she shouted, embracing the senshi of time.  
Sailor Pluto looked down at the pink-haired girl fondly.   
"And how are you doing, Small Lady?"  
"Pu, you'll never believe what happened to me! Some boy   
named Ranma tried to steal one of mom's old staffs last night, but I   
managed to stop him, somehow. Anyway, it turns out that he's this   
really famous cat burglar and now Sailor Moon is going out to   
bring him to justice!"  
Then Usagi suddenly seemed to deflate, her smile turning   
to a frown. "But then I don't know how I'll be able to find him,   
much less capture him. Aunty Makoto doesn't think he's even in   
Crystal Tokyo anymore."  
Sailor Pluto smiled. "Oh, I'm sure he's still somewhere   
close by. You can do anything you set your mind to, Small Lady.   
You'll find him."  
"Do you really think so, Pu?" Usagi asked as she looked up,   
her eyes filled with hope.  
Sailor Pluto nodded. "But I want you to be careful. This   
Ranma seems like a dangerous individual."  
"I will, Pu. Don't worry," Usagi told her as she scampered   
away, her enthusiasm having returned in full.  
Sailor Pluto smiled again to see her go. "She doesn't know   
what she's getting into," she whispered to herself and vanished.  
  
In the darkness, it lingered. Always, always away from the   
light, so that no shape could be discerned, only a feeling, a sort of   
presence one is aware of when one is being watched.  
It made a sound that could have been interpreted as a sigh.  
"Another failure," said a voice that was neither distinctly   
male nor distinctly female, though clearly human. Not _it_. "I   
am... disappointed as well. I think we may have to speed up our   
time table."  
It made another sound, though more inquisitive this time.  
"The senshi? We'll still have to move carefully around   
them, of course. They pose no danger to us at the moment,   
however, as long as we remain cautious. I'll deal with them if they   
become too... inquisitive. Allow me to worry about them. You are   
busy enough as it is."  
A short sound, a sort of growl combined with a bark.  
"Yes. Soon." 


End file.
